Breathing is something that seems very simple, but we cannot overlook just how powerful it is. It affects our blood chemistry, our mental state, our posture, and as you’ll see in this article, your circulation. When you realize how many breaths you take in a day, you can imagine that disordered breathing can have a massive impact on your health. At 16 breaths per minute, that’s over 23,000 breaths per day.

At rest, you should be breathing through your nose. Nasal breathing is a vasodilator. When you breathe through your mouth, the vasculature becomes constricted. This leads to poor circulation and the most distal parts of our bodies become affected; the hands and feet. There are other causes of this, but this is a simple and free thing to pay attention to. And it just might solve it for you.

Why does this happen? When CO₂ levels drop, hemoglobin (the molecule that carries oxygen) holds onto oxygen more tightly. Even if your blood is rich in oxygen, your cells may not be able to use it effectively. Conversely, the more CO₂ builds up in your blood stream, the more oxygen is scrubbed off of the hemoglobin and delivered to tissues. This is known as the Bohr Effect. The blood vessels respond by dilating to get more oxygen to tissues. 

When you mouth breath, you blow off more CO₂. As CO₂ drops, the vessels constrict in an attempt to hold on to the oxygen. The periphery (hands and feet) have narrower vessels, so the constriction effectively closes off that vasculature, leading to the cold sensation. This is simply a lack of blood. 

The good news is that your breathing habits are trainable. With awareness and practice, you can retrain your body to breathe through your nose more consistently.

Try these steps:

• Practice nasal breathing during the day. Close your mouth, breathe gently through your nose, and focus on keeping your breath light and quiet.
  
  
• Tape your mouth at night (with safe, breathable tape designed for sleep) to encourage nasal breathing.
  
  
• Work on posture. Poor posture can restrict diaphragmatic breathing and promote mouth breathing.
  
  
• Stay hydrated and clear nasal congestion with saline rinses or steam inhalation.
  
  
• Consider Buteyko or oxygen advantage techniques — these methods are designed to restore proper CO₂ balance and breathing patterns.

For mouth tape, especially if you have facial hair, we like Hostage Tape. You can get that here.